Fort Smith National Historic Site
National Historic Site, Established 1961. Two Successive Frontier Forts, 1817 And 1838, And The Federal Courthouse And Jail That Held Jurisdiction Over Indian Territory. A Certified Site On The Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail. · Fort Smith, Arkansas
For twenty-one years the law for the whole of Indian Territory was administered from a basement courtroom in Fort Smith by Judge Isaac Parker, who tried something over thirteen thousand cases and sent seventy-nine men to the gallows outside - which is why the newspapers called him the Hanging Judge and why Charles Portis opened True Grit here. The site holds two forts, not one: the 1817 post at Belle Point where the Poteau runs into the Arkansas, and the larger 1838 fort whose barracks became the courthouse and whose cellar became the jail that prisoners called Hell on the Border. Deputy marshals rode out of here into the Territory and sixty-five of them did not come back; Bass Reeves, the most celebrated Black deputy US marshal in the West, was one of the ones who did. The Trail of Tears passed through the same ground, and the park does not separate the two stories, because they happened on the same few acres of grass above the river.
301 Parker Avenue, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 72901, United States
The visitor centre, the restored courtroom and the jail keep daytime hours most days of the year and close on major winter holidays. There is an entrance fee per adult, valid for several days, with children free and federal interagency passes accepted. The grounds, the reconstructed gallows, the Belle Point overlook and the riverfront trail are outdoors and open longer than the buildings. Ranger programmes run on a seasonal schedule. Confirm hours and fees before travelling.
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